M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

11 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered together the family of Judah and Benjamin. There were 180,000 chosen men of war gathered to fight against Israel to make Rehoboam their king again. ² But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah. And speak to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin. Tell them, ⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says, “You must not go up to fight against your brothers. Every man return to his house. For I have made this happen.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned. They did not go against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Makes the Cities Strong

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built strong cities in Judah. ⁶ He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These are strong cities with walls, in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹ He made the strong places stronger. He put leaders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹² And he put battle-coverings and spears in every city and made them very strong. So he kept Judah and Benjamin.

Religious Leaders and Levites Come to Judah

¹³ The religious leaders and the Levites who were in all Israel joined with Rehoboam from all places where they lived. ¹⁴ The Levites left their fields and land and came to Judah and Jerusalem. For Jeroboam and his sons had stopped them from working as religious leaders for the Lord. ¹⁵ He chose religious leaders of his own for the high places, for the goat-gods and for the calves which he had made. ¹⁶ Those from all the families of Israel who set their hearts on following the Lord God of Israel came after them to Jerusalem. They came to give gifts in worship to the Lord God of their fathers. ¹⁷ They made the nation of Judah strong, and gave strength to Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years. For they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸ Then Rehoboam married Mahalath. She was the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse. ¹⁹ She gave birth to Rehoboam’s sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he married Maacah the daughter of Absalom. She gave birth to his sons: Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and women who acted as his wives. For he had taken eighteen wives and sixty women who acted as his wives. He was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²² Rehoboam chose Maacah’s son Abijah to be the head leader among his brothers. For he wanted to make him king. ²³ And he acted with wisdom. He spread some of his sons to every strong city in all the lands of Judah and Benjamin. He gave them much food, and found many wives for them.

Egypt Takes Judah

12 When King Rehoboam’s nation had been made strong, he and all Israel turned away from the Law of the Lord. ² After Rehoboam had been king for five years, King Shishak of Egypt came to fight against Jerusalem. This happened because they had not been faithful to the Lord. ³ Shishak came with 1,200 war-wagons and 60,000 horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were too many to number. There were Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians. ⁴ He took the strong cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Then Shemaiah the man of God came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, “The Lord says, ‘You have left Me. So I have left you to Shishak.’” ⁶ So the princes of Israel and the king put away their pride and said, “The Lord is right and good.”

⁷ The Lord saw that they had put away their pride. And the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have put away their pride. I will not destroy them. But I will give them some help. My anger will not be poured out on Jerusalem by the power of Shishak. ⁸ But they will be made to work for him. In this way they may learn the difference between My work and the work of the kings of the countries.”

⁹ So King Shishak of Egypt came and fought against Jerusalem. He took the riches of the Lord’s house and the riches of the king’s house. He took everything. He even took the battle-coverings of gold which Solomon had made. ¹⁰ King Rehoboam made battle-coverings of brass in their place. And he put them in the care of the captains of the soldiers who watched the door of the king’s house. ¹¹ Every time the king went into the house of the Lord, the soldiers came and carried the coverings. Then they returned them to the soldiers’ room. ¹² When Rehoboam put away his pride, the Lord’s anger turned away from him. He was not destroyed. And things were good in Judah.

The End of Rehoboam’s Rule

¹³ So King Rehoboam became strong in Jerusalem and ruled. He was forty-one years old when he began to rule. And he ruled in Jerusalem for seventeen years. This was the city the Lord had chosen from all the families of Israel to put His name there. The name of Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ And he did what was sinful, because he did not follow the Lord with all his heart.

¹⁵ The acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are written in the writings of Shemaiah the man of God and of Iddo the man who told what would happen in the future. Wars were always being fought between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶ Rehoboam died and was buried in the city of David. His son Abijah became king in his place.

Words to the Church in Ephesus

2 “Write this to the angel of the church in the city of Ephesus: ‘The One Who holds the seven stars in His right hand and the One Who walks among the seven lights made of gold, says this: ² I know what you have done and how hard you have worked. I know how long you can wait and not give up. I know that you cannot put up with sinful men. I know that you have put men to the test who call themselves missionaries. You have found they are not missionaries but are false. ³ You have waited long and have not given up. You have suffered because of Me. You have kept going on and have not become tired. ⁴ But I have this one thing against you. You do not love Me as you did at first. ⁵ Remember how you once loved Me. Be sorry for your sin and love Me again as you did at first. If you do not, I will come to you and take your light out of its place. I will do this unless you are sorry for your sin and turn from it. ⁶ But you have this: You hate what the Nicolaitans do. I hate what they do also. ⁷ You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the fruit of the tree of life in the garden of God to everyone who has power and wins.’

Words to the Church in Smyrna

⁸ “Write this to the angel of the church in the city of Smyrna: ‘The One Who is First and Last, the One Who died and came to life again, says this: ⁹ I know of your troubles. I know you are poor. But still you are rich! I know the bad things spoken against you by those who say they are Jews. But they are not Jews. They belong to the devil. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you will suffer. Listen! The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will be in trouble for ten days. Be faithful even to death. Then I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The person who has power and wins will not be hurt by the second death!’

Words to the Church in Pergamum

¹² “Write this to the angel of the church in the city of Pergamum: ‘The One Who has the sharp sword that cuts both ways, says this: ¹³ I know where you live. It is the place where Satan sits. I know that you are true to Me. You did not give up and turn away from your faith in Me, even when Antipas was killed. He was faithful in speaking for Me. He was killed in front of you where Satan is. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you. You have some people who follow the teaching of Balaam. He taught Balak to set a trap for the Jews. He taught them to eat food that had been given as a gift in worship to false gods and to do sex sins. ¹⁵ You also have some who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans in the same way. ¹⁶ Be sorry for your sins and turn from them. If you do not, I will come to you right away. I will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. ¹⁷ You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the hidden bread from heaven to everyone who has power and wins. I will give each of them a white stone also. A new name will be written on it. No one will know the name except the one who receives it!’

Words to the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸ “Write this to the angel of the church in the city of Thyatira: ‘The Son of God Who has eyes like fire and Whose feet are like shining brass, says this: ¹⁹ I know what you are doing. I know of your love and faith. I know how you have worked and how you have waited long and have not given up. I know that you are working harder now than you did at first. ²⁰ But I have this against you: You are allowing Jezebel who calls herself a preacher to teach my servants. She is leading them in the wrong way and they are doing sex sins. And they are eating food that has been given as a gift in worship to false gods. ²¹ I gave her time to be sorry for her sins and turn from them. She does not want to turn from her sex sins. ²² See! I will throw her on a bed. Those who do sex sins with her will suffer much trouble and pain. I will let them suffer unless they are sorry for the sins they have done with her and turn from them. ²³ And I will kill her children. All the churches will know that I am the One Who looks deep into the hearts and minds. I will give you whatever is coming to you because of your work. ²⁴ But the rest of you there in the city of Thyatira have not followed this false teaching. You have not learned what they call the secrets of Satan. So I will put no other load on you. ²⁵ But hold on to what you have until I come. ²⁶ To the one who has power and wins and does what I want him to do, I will give the right and the power over the nations. ²⁷ He will be leader over them using a piece of iron. And they will be broken in pieces like pots of clay. My Father has given Me this right and power. ²⁸ And I will give him the Morning Star. ²⁹ You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!’

Jerusalem’s Sin

3 It is bad for her who does not obey and is unclean, the city who makes it hard for the people! ² She does not listen to anyone and will not be taught. She did not trust in the Lord. She does not come near to her God. ³ Her leaders are lions that make a loud noise. Her judges are wolves at evening. They leave nothing for the morning. ⁴ Her men who tell what is going to happen in the future are proud and cannot be trusted. Her religious leaders have made the holy place unclean. They have turned in anger against the Law. ⁵ The Lord within her is right and good. He will be fair and do nothing wrong. Every morning He brings to light what is fair. Every new day He is faithful. But the one who does wrong knows no shame. ⁶ “I have cut off nations. Their towers are destroyed. I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them. Their cities are laid waste, and no one lives in them. ⁷ I said, ‘For sure you will honor Me with fear and receive teaching.’ Then her place would not be destroyed and she would not be punished as I had planned. But they were quick to make all their works sinful.

⁸ “So wait for Me,” says the Lord, “for the day when I stand up to speak. I have decided to gather nations together to pour My burning anger upon them. All the earth will be destroyed by the fire of My jealous anger. ⁹ Then I will make the lips of the people pure. And all of them will call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him shoulder to shoulder. ¹⁰ Those who worship Me and have been driven away will bring My gifts in worship from the other side of the rivers of Ethiopia. ¹¹ On that day you will not be put to shame because of all the works you have done against Me. For then I will take away all your people who find joy in their pride. And you will never be proud again on My holy mountain. ¹² But I will leave among you people who are not proud, and they will be safe in the name of the Lord. ¹³ The people of Israel who are left will do no wrong and tell no lies. A lying tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down with no one to make them afraid.”

A Song of Joy

¹⁴ Sing, O people of Zion! Call out, O Israel! Have joy and be happy with all your heart, O people of Jerusalem! ¹⁵ The Lord has taken away your punishment. He has taken away those who hate you. The King of Israel, the Lord, is with you. You will not be afraid of trouble any more. ¹⁶ On that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion. Do not let your hands lose their strength. ¹⁷ The Lord your God is with you, a Powerful One Who wins the battle. He will have much joy over you. With His love He will give you new life. He will have joy over you with loud singing. ¹⁸ I will gather those who have sorrow for the special days, and take away their shame. ¹⁹ At that time I will punish all those who made it hard for you. I will save those who cannot walk and gather those who have been driven away. And I will turn their shame into praise. They will be known all over the earth. ²⁰ At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you together. I will make you known all over the earth, and all the nations will praise you, when I return your riches before your eyes,” says the Lord.

Christ Lived Before the World Was Made

1 The Word (Christ) was in the beginning. The Word was with God. The Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ He made all things. Nothing was made without Him making it. ⁴ Life began by Him. His Life was the Light for men. ⁵ The Light shines in the darkness. The darkness has never been able to put out the Light.

John the Baptist Tells of the Coming of Christ

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came to tell what he knew about the Light so that all men might believe through him. ⁸ John was not the Light, but he was sent to tell about the Light.

⁹ This true Light, coming into the world, gives light to every man. ¹⁰ He came into the world. The world was made by Him, but it did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him. ¹² He gave the right and the power to become children of God to those who received Him. He gave this to those who put their trust in His name. ¹³ These children of God were not born of blood and of flesh and of man’s desires, but they were born of God. ¹⁴ Christ became human flesh and lived among us. We saw His shining-greatness. This greatness is given only to a much-loved Son from His Father. He was full of loving-favor and truth.

John the Baptist Makes the Way Ready for Jesus Christ ^(A)

¹⁵ John told about Christ and said, “I have been telling you about this One. I said, ‘He is coming after me. He is more important than I because He lived before me.’” ¹⁶ From Him Who has so much we have all received loving-favor, one loving-favor after another. ¹⁷ The Law was given through Moses, but loving-favor and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ The much-loved Son is beside the Father. No man has ever seen God. But Christ has made God known to us.

¹⁹ The Jews sent their religious leaders and men from the family group of Levi to ask John, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He told them without holding back any words, “I am not the Christ!” ²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not!” Then they asked, “Are you the special One Who was to come to speak for God?” John said, “No.” ²² Then they asked him, “Who are you? We must tell those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ John said, “I am the voice of one crying in the desert. ‘Make the road straight for the Lord,’ as the early preacher Isaiah said.” ^(B)

²⁴ Those who had been sent were from the proud religious law-keepers. ²⁵ They asked John again, “Then why do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or that special One Who was to come to speak for God?” ²⁶ John answered, “I baptize with water. But there is One standing among you Whom you do not know. ²⁷ He is the One Who is coming after me. I am not good enough to get down and help Him take off His shoes.” ²⁸ All this happened when John was baptizing in the town of Bethany. He was on the other side of the Jordan River.

The Baptism of Jesus ^(C)

²⁹ The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him. He said, “See! The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ I have been talking about Him. I said, ‘One is coming after me Who is more important than I, because He lived before I was born.’ ³¹ I did not know who He was, but I have come to baptize with water so the Jews might know about Him.”

³² Then John said, “I saw the Holy Spirit come down on Jesus as a dove from heaven. The Holy Spirit stayed on Him. ³³ I did not know Him then. But God sent me to baptize with water. God said to me, ‘The Holy Spirit will come down and stay on Him. He is the One Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I saw this happen. I am now saying that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Jesus Calls Andrew and Peter

³⁵ The next day John the Baptist was standing with two of his own followers. ³⁶ Jesus walked by. John looked at Him and said, “See! The Lamb of God.” ³⁷ John’s two followers heard him say this and followed Jesus.

³⁸ Jesus turned around and saw them following. He said to them, “What are you looking for?” They answered, “Teacher, where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They followed Him and saw where He lived. They stayed with Him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who had heard John’s words and had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing he did was to find his brother Simon. He said to him, “We have found the Christ!” ⁴² Andrew took Simon to Jesus. When Jesus saw Simon, He said, “You are Simon, the son of John. Your name will be Cephas.” The name Cephas means Peter, or a rock.

Jesus Calls Philip And Nathanael

⁴³ The next day Jesus wanted to go to the country of Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Philip was from the town of Bethsaida. Andrew and Peter were from this town also. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law. He is the One the early preachers wrote about. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said, “Can anything good come out of the town of Nazareth?” Philip said, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said, “See! There is a true Jew. There is nothing false in him.” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to Jesus, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip talked to you, I saw you under the fig tree.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael said to Him, “Teacher, You are the Son of God. You are the King of the Jews.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Do you believe because I said I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that. ⁵¹ For sure, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and God’s angels going up and coming and down on the Son of Man.”